The prime minister's house and the ruling party's headquarters were burnt down by student protesters yesterday, as a mutiny by elements of Burkina Faso's military spread across the country.

Unrest began in late February when students protested over a young man's death in custody. At least six people were killed and buildings were torched in Koudougou, the town where the unrest erupted again yesterday.

The military mutiny, meanwhile, began on Thursday night in the presidential compound in Ouagadougou, the capital, when members of the presidential guard began firing into the air, demanding unpaid housing allowances. By yesterday, soldiers in several cities had joined in. Calm returned to the capital after soldiers there were paid their wages.

President Blaise Compaoré, who took power in a violent coup 24 years ago, said on Friday that he was dissolving his government and naming a new army chief. But the steps have failed to stem discontent in this impoverished nation in west Africa.

"There's pent-up concern and hostility that's been simmering for a long time," said David Shinn, a former US ambassador to the country. He said it was likely the protests by students were inspired by developments in Tunisia and other north African countries that have seen regime change.

The escalating cost of living is at the root of the current unrest, said Cema Blegne, who works for the National Syndicate of African Teachers of Burkina Faso. Government leaders are often accused of using state money to fund their lifestyles.

Tassere Koanda, who lives in Tenkodogo, east of the capital, said soldiers stole mobile phones and demanded free drinks in bars. They fired weapons into the air for hours before returning to their barracks.

There was no indication the student unrest and the mutiny by soldiers was being coordinated, but together they pose the most vocal challenge to Compaoré's rule in more than a decade.

Burkina Faso is near the bottom of the United Nations' Human Development Index, which measures general well-being. It has high rates of unemployment and illiteracy. Most people get by on subsistence agriculture.

Compaoré, a former army captain, came to power in a 1987 coup in which Burkina Faso's first president, Thomas Sankara, was killed. Since the coup, Compaoré has won several elections that lacked transparency. He was re-elected again in November. The opposition said the vote was rigged.Shinn and others say it is unclear whether the unrest will bring down Compaore. Shinn said he might be simply buying time with his government reshuffle and other moves, and that the soldiers who are mutinying have narrower, more personal concerns than who is in power.

"I doubt the soldiers are concerned about who are running certain ministries," he said. "Generally speaking, soldiers are interested in more mundane things such as pay and living circumstances."